Fuel burning device



NOV. 14, 1933. l l, ALDRlCH Y Y 1,935,221

FUEL` BURNING DEVICE Filed Dec. 30, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 5 n ml-l1 4I,

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Nov. 14, 1933. l.. l. ALDRICH I FUEL BURNING DEVICE Filed Deo. so, 1929s sheets-sheet 2 TT E1 RNEYE TIE.

Nov. 14, 1933. L.. l. ALDRICH FUEL BURNING DEVICE Filed Dec. 50, 1929 3Sheets-Sheet 3 IDR.

Patented' Nov. 14, 1933 UNITED STATES 1,935,221 F'UEL BURNING DEVICELoyd I. Aldrich, Peoria, 111.', assignor to Hart Oil Burner Corporation,Peoria, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application Decembeil 30, 1929 lSerial No. 417,376

z claims. (c1. 15s-'m This invention relates to fuel burning devices.

One of the objects of the invention is in the provision of a spinnertype burner having'a novel .fuel feed mechanism comprising a means forelevating a volume of fuel directly into the rotating fuel feedmechanism of the burner.

Another object lies in the provision of a simplifled and efficient fuelfeeding means for a spinner type fuel burner, said means including asump having a normal fuel level, which upon being replenished, isadapted to rise and thereby furnish fuel directly to a rotating fuelfeeding mechanism in connection with the burner.

Still another object lies in the provision of a fuel feeding mechanismfor a fuel burner which contemplatesl the normal maintenance of acertain Volume of fuel which when elevated, provides a fuel feedingmeans for the burner, there being also included a means forby-passingthe fuel in case of failure of fuel feed at the fuel delivery end of theburner.

A further object lies in the provision of a fuel burner'of the rotatingcup type, said cup being provided with means for insuring a volume ofcool air against the rotating plate suicient to prevent warping of saidplate, the same being,` exposed directly to the fire in the combustionchamber.

A still further object lies in the provision of a fuel burning device ofthe'rotating cup type, the cup for said burner being provided with anair inductor mechanism capable of compressing a `volume of 'cool airimmediately adjacent the under side of the plate toprevent same fromwarping, as well as an auxiliary air passageinsuring proper cooling ofthe fuel delivery tubes to prevent carbonization-of oil therein.

Yet another object lies in` the provision of housing mechanism for thedriving connection between the power means and the driving mechanism forthe burner.

Other objects will appear in the following Speciflcation taken inconnection with the annexed y drawings, in which- Fig, l is a sectionalviewy taken in side elevation, showing the various portions of 'theburner and the manner of mounting same;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view, partially in section, showingf'thedriving connection between the electric motor and the burner;

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is across-sectional view taken on the line fl--4 of Fig.` l; y

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the 1 4line 5-5 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. l. n,

Referring specifically to the drawings, the disclosure in Figs. l and 2yis such aswill identify said burner mechanism as a fuel lburner of theso-called rotating cup'or spinner type, adapted to have the rotatablecup portion mounted Within .the furnace or boiler, there being built up,however, about the cup portion which is exposed to the combustion, acement or brick flame or fire receiver 10, which usually comprises ahorizontal surface with upstanding vertical portions against which thefuel lis thrown. and upon which the w fuel burns.

This combustion surface 10 is suiiiciently conventional to negativedescription thereof other than in general terms, the same obviouslybeing constructed within the furnace or boiler chamber.

In closer proximity to the burner itself, later to be described, is ametal ring 11 either connected'to or forming a part of the combustionchamber or surface 10, said ring providing draft means for the entranceof air necessary for combustion purposes. s@ This ring 11 is aperturedas at 12 and there is disposed in the ring 11 a rotatable plate 13having intermittently spaced projecting portions ll capable uponrotation thereof to cover the apertures 12 in the ring 11 to any degreedesired. Obvlg5 ously, the above described mechanism provides adjustabledraft means.

Now, with respect to the burner itself, an elec tric motor 15 isdisposed at a. point removed from that portion of the burner which isexposed to the y combustion flame, the same being mounted in ahorizontal manner and connected to the burner by means of a selfaligning' coupling 16 connected at one end to the electric motor shaftat 17 and at the other end to a stub drive shaft 18. This stub Q5 driveshaft 18 rotates in a bushing 19, which in turn is carried by asupporting portion 20 which in turn is either attached to or forms apart of a vertically disposed housing portion 2l. The stub shaft hasmounted upon its driving end the worm l0@ 22 which furnishes powertransmission means for the burner drive shaft, and mechanism later to bedescribed. g

The stub drive shaft 18 is provided with the spirally formed oil grooves23 so arranged thereon 105 as to carry oil from within the housing 21 toa point adjacent the'outer end of the stub shaft, said oil being throwninto the chamber 24 formed by means of a cap member 25 secured to thepor tion 20 by means of the plural screws 26. Oil or 110 lubricant ispermitted to return to the housing 21 by means of the plural grooves 27formed upon the outer side of the bushing 19. It is apparent from theabove description that the means for lubricating the stub shaft isautomatic in its principle of operation. The worm 22 transmits power toa worm gear 28 secured to a vertically disposed drive shaft 29 supportedwithin the intermediate housing 21, upper housing 30 and lower housing31. The housing 21 has an intermediate upwardly extending part 32 whichprovides an intermediate ybearing support for the vertical shaft.Pressed into this bearing support is a bushing 33, within which thevertical shaft rotates.

It will be noted at this time, however, that the bushing 33 has aplurality of oil grooves formed upon its outer surface, the same beingdesignated 34, said oil grooves, as will be later described, permlttingreturn of an overflow of oil or lubricant for the vertical shaft. Thelower bearing support for the vertical shaft is provided in the member35, which in turn is secured to the housing 21 by means of the pluralscrews 36, which also act as a supporting and attachment means for thebefore described housing 31. It will be noted that the member35 has apassageway 37 therein for the lubricant.

Upon the lower end of the vertical shaft 29 is secured as at 38, alubricant impeller 39. At 40 is shown a threaded lug permitting entranceof a lubricant into the housing'21 which is adapted to contain aconsiderable volume of lubricant. The housing is filled with lubricantto a level suilicient to be picked up by the spiral grooves on the stubshaft 18, the automatic oiling of said member having already beendescribed.

The impeller 39 forces oil upwardly through the interior of the hollowvertical drive shaft to a point intermediate its length wherein aplurality of oil apertures 41 open directly into theupper bearing. Theoil supplied to this upper bearing is adapted to pass by gravitydownwardly within the bushing, finally falling directly into the housing21. However, in case of an excess supply of lubricant being forcedthrough the above described opening, it will be forced upwardly to apoint above the bushing, there being permitted return of said excesslubricant to the housing 21 by means of the plural passages 34previously described formed upon the outer surface of the bushing. Awasher 41a prevents any possible exodus of the lubricant upwardly.

The upper housing 30 forms a fuel reservoir 42 -in connection with theupwardly projecting por- `the valve 47 is provided in a threadedfashioning 48 of the opposite end thereof and the conventional supportand packing mechanism 49 therefor.

Means for by-passing fuel from the fuel supply chamber 42 to a chamber50 surrounding the valve 47 is provided in' an opening 51 communicating,as at 52, with the fuel supply chamber 42 and as at 53 with the valve.Such by-passing of the fuel is merely for safety purposes and underordinary circumstances would be useful only in case of a plugging of thefuel delivery lines later to be described, which would result in abacking up of the fuel, which in turn, due to the above described meansfor by-passing, would therefore accomplish merely a distribution of theoil into the fuel chamber through the bypass a'nd a continuous rotationthrough the valve. The by-pass 51 is adapted to take care of any oilwhich may be displaced if the impeller portion 64 causes the oil levelin chamber 42 to rise above the lower edge of opening 52.

Upon the upper end of the vertical shaft 29 is secured a rotating cup 54having a series of air inducing blades 55 disposed upon the undersurface thereof. These blades are, upon rotation of the cup, adapted toinduce a flow of air upwardly. In view of the fact that the cup 54 isexposed to the combustion flame, and therefore is subject to distortion,due to constant exposure to extremely high temperatures, there isprovided in the following described mechanism a means for supplying aconstant volume of air to the under side of the cup to prevent such pos-.160 sible distortion.

This means is provided in a surrounding spaced metal enclosure 56,secured to the cup in the plural manner by the spaced attachmentmembers` 57. It will be noted that this enclosure member at its lowerpoint has an opening of considerable diameter and that as said memberapproaches the cup the air passage is considerably decreased with theresult that air which is induced by the blades 55 upwardly, ows over the11C underside of cup 54, thereby'exerting a cooling action upon the cup.y

The vertical shaft 29 has attached thereto at a point 58 above thelubricating openings 41.

a cylindrical po`rtion 59, extending downwardlyabout the interiorly,upwardly projecting portion of the housing 21,'said cylinder beingflared outwardly as at 60a at its lowermost end.

Secured to the upper end of the cylindrical portion 59 is a fueldelivery portion 60, so ar- 120 ranged that in rotation its outer edge61 has a working t with the upper end of the housing 30. This fueldelivery portion has for its operating member a downwardly and inwardlyprojecting frusto-conical sleeve 62. said sleeve having its lower edgelying adjacent a vertically disposed tubular member 63 which is eithersecured to or forms a part of the fuel delivery casing or member 60. Thetube 63 has an impeller portion 64 formed at its lower edge. saidimpeller 135 portion being disposed immediately above the flared portion60a of the cylinder 59.

It is apparent that fuel is permitted to pass from the before describedvalve about the ared portion 60a and into the path of the impeller13564, which is perforated adjacent its periphery, in the plural mannershown at- 65. This impeller, which rotates with the vertical shaft,elevates the level of the fuel contained in the reservoir 42 to suchpoint where the fuel -is picked up by 140 the rotating tapered sleeve.62 and due to the downward convergence of this sleeve the fuelobviously Itravels upwardly alonghthe sides thereof, finally beingejected into the plural fuel deliv- .ery tubes 66, which have theirfinal delivery ends neat chamber 44, the float within this chamberobviously controlling the flow of fuel to the fuel burner. In operation,fuel in the float chamber flows to the chamber surrounding theadjustable valve 47. From this chamber the fuel flows past lthe valve ina measured quantity, finally passing about the ared portion 60H andthence through the plural apertures in the impeller, di'- rectly intothe fuel reservoir 42.

As previously described, when the apparatus is inoperative a quantity offuel is always maintained in the fuel reservoir at a determined heighttherein, as indicated by the dottedA lines in Fig. 1,such dotted linesobviously being level with the level of the fuel in the oat chamber.

During operation, however, the incoming fuel increases the volume in thereservoir due to the rapid rotation of the impeller 64 elevating thefuel into the path of the rapidly rotating lower edges of the fueldelivery mechanism. The fuel is thus picked up by the rotating fueldelivery member 62, due to the sloping formation thereof, the fueltravelling up the sides of this portion and directly into the-. fueldelivery tubes 66, the fuel obviously being thrown by centrifugal forcerapidly from the open ends thereof. Auxiliary air necessary forcombustion is controlled by means of the adjustable member 13 ,lyingwithin the draft ring 11. be ignited in any conventional type ofignition member such as an electric spark or gas pilot light (not shown)of any form desired.

During the operation of the burner, the rotating cup obviously isexposed to terrific temperatures and unless means is provided forcooling same, it would soon become distorted and therefore preventfurther satisfactory operation of the burner in view of the fact thatthe vertical shaft would be improperly balanced and the support,- ingmechanism would be incapable of resisting the strain. In order toovercome this main disadvantage to this well known type of burner,applicant has provided a surrounding air inductor portion, through whichthe rotating blades 55 induce a blast of cool air from beneath the cup.A current of air is projected against the under surface of the cup atall times. v

This manner of cooling the cup prevents it from attaining suchtemperatures as would distort it and therefore not only increases thelife of the cup but also the efficiency of the burner. lThese bladesextend below the upper periphery of member 56 so as to also induce anauxiliary blast of air upwardly about the fuel delivery tubes 66. Thisauxiliary blast obviously operates to satisfactorily cool the fueldelivery pipes which are also exposed, although not 'as directly, to thecombustion ames. Experiencehas shown that the fuel in the delivery pipesof this general type of burner often becomes carbonizedfand prevents theefncient flow of fuel mixture therethrough. In the present instance thisauxiliary blast of air operates to maintain these fuel delivery pipes atsuch temperature as will prevent carbonization of fuel therein. Y

As respects the loiling system for the presen The mixture of fuel andair maycomplished through grooves 27 formed upon the outer side of thebushing 19 supporting the stub shaft. The oil is thus forced outwardlyand returned in an automatic, uninterrupted manner to the housing 21.

Means for oiling the vertical shaft, which of course operates at .a highspeed, is accomplished by means of the impeller 39, which forces the oilupwardlythrough the interior of the hollow vertical shaft to a pointwithin its upper bearing, whence the lubricant is thrown by centrifugalforce. out the apertures 41, the oil then either passing by gravitydownwardly within the bushing 33 into therhousing or upwardly over' thebearing, thence passing by gravity down the plural grooves 34 formedupon the outside of the bushing 33 directly into the housing.

Attention is further called to the manner of covering the connectionbetween the electric motor and the driving mechanism of the burner. Theusual practice contemplates such connection without a surroundingcasing. Applicant herein actually provides a cover for this connectionwhich not only improves the appearance of the burner but also permitselectric connections usually exposed to be also carried therein.

What I claim is:

1. A fuel burning device comprising in combination a rotatable cupmemberl exposed to combustion ames, means for driving said cup includinga vertical shaft, bearing supports for said shaft, means for sprayingthe fuel including fuel tubes attached to and rotating with said cup, afuel reservoir in which a volume of fuel is normally maintained, afrusto-com'cal portion connected with the fuel delivery tubes and`projecting into the fuel reservoir and an impeller mechanism'connectedto and rotating with the vertical shaft for elevating fuel within thereservoir to such a height and in such manner that said fuel will beautomatically picked up and elevated by the centrifugal movement of thefuel delivery mechanism.

2. A fuel burning device comprising in combiv nation a rotating cup,.means for driving same including a vertical shaft, means for' feedingand spraying fuel comprising a fuel' line and valve, fuel delivery tubesattached to and rotating with said cup, a fuel reservoirnormallycontaining a volume of fuel, mechanism for elevating the LOYD I.ALDRICH.

